Trade School VS College

Thank you for this information. I will definitely pass it on to him. We have already told him that there is no vacancy in environmental as it is a preferred field with lots of very passionate and intelligent kids coming through.

Both nephews are in programs that allow for field placement for 4 months at the end of every term. No vacation time for these students. The government pays part of the wage so that companies can hire. And even for the year after they graduate they will be able to enter another job program - Grad Corps - that will give them 4 to 6 months more experience. When they finish school they will already have 12 to 18 months of real time experience.

My experince has been that too many kids simply go to college without a whole lot of goals, graduate with a 2.5 GPA and when interviewed, don't know much of anything.

It's not what school you go to, it's that you go there to LEARN.

The more I interview fresh college grads, the more I wonder just what they are teaching them these days. Sure does not seem to be much about how to get a job done.

And you still managed to graduate?

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

It would have been a disaster if I had gone to college right out of High School.

I went straight to the Marines for 4 years.

By the time my 4 years were up, I was excited to go back to school. And instead of goofing off like I did in High School, I actually applied myself!

GI Bill was nice to have, too!!

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Taxes, in excess of what are needed to fulfill the constitutionally authorized activity of government, are theft

For me the trade school made me more money. But the key is to pay as you go either way you go.

Sure.
College is really pretty easy. The tests are usually the only things that matter. I learned a long time ago how to take a test. Many times the only time I would show up for class was for tests.
I was thrown off campus for partying. The only time I was allowed on campus was for class.
I lived in a very small town when growing up. My parents knew everyone within driving distance. I wasn't allowed to do much of the things other kids did. When I went to college I made up for lost time.

I went to 5 different colleges. Graduated from the 6th with two certificates: Machining Technology and Composite Technology. Currently I work for a good company with good pay and benefits and what do I do? I run a 3 axis cnc router cutting out composite and metal panels that are made into aircraft cabinetry. Glad I went to school because in my whole area...I'm the only one who did go to school and I'm the only one who has taken the high tech cnc programming courses. Everyone's old school and haven't taken the CATIA programming but have had to learn how to do cnc programming on their own with the creaky old cnc programs.

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

One of my friends who is a professor at the local university says they can't give tests that are as hard as the ones they gave 10 years ago because none of the students will pass. It's a problem with the majority of this generation who expect things to be given to them instead of working hard for it. We see the same thing at work, the people in their 20s we hire dont have the work ethics of those who are older.

Not in any school I'm aquainted with...

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

College isn't worth it anymore unless you are getting a Bachelor of Science degree that will be used. Honestly, if I had a child, then I would tell him/her to get a job out of high school.

School has always been easy for me.
I have never even took a school book home with me.

Me too. But college required FAR more than just testing...

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

Not always, roommate quit attending a class about mid semester, he expected to fail it,,, his grade received at semester end was a incomplete, so he went to see the prof. The professor told him the incomplete was because he didn't take the final, if he wanted a grade he could take the final. Two days later he took the final ...got a B on the final,,so, got a B for the course.

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* I'm supposed to respect my elders, but its getting harder and harder for me to find one. .*-

pancho! I like your post and can surely relate. I grew up in a very strict household and boy oh boy - when I was allowed to drive to the big city then I went Wild! Still have great memories of it.

I did not go to class either! I showed up only for the final exam or to turn in a term paper. What a lot of Fun! I was probably single handed responsible for USC starting an attendance requirement. Those were the days......

I enjoyed college and was glad I went. But that was a long time ago. I think today it is just as important to have skills - job skills and common sense skills and those can be acquired in Community College, Trade Schools and just by "doing".

Wanted to add: Work. Work as you go along. Don't run up those huge student loan bills. Get a job and work and pay as much as you can along. I had several jobs at a time and learned just as much from working as I did at school .......well...actually probably more since I never did go to class......

Work and pay the bills as you also attend school.

I worked unloading boxcars at a feed mill. Mostly fertilizer.
We didn't have forklifts. Each sack had to be manually unloaded.
Wasn't much competition for the job.

I still have fond memories of some of my College days jobs. I worked once at the SC State House as a page and part of my job was to run through the garage basement and fetch fried egg and cheese sandwiches for a certain House member. (Long gone - this was 1980's).

I worked at a Half Way House for female Federal Prisoners who were supposed to be learning job skills before release. I was the weekend staff person. I can tell you for sure that I would rather work with the federal male prisoners any ole day. Those women were the meanest ever. And I worked with kids in foster care and I also did House cleaning. The house cleaning did not pay much back then but it was a fast $25.00 which paid for food.

But - it paid my tuition and books so I was not running up bills that I could not pay later. I think working helps the student learn just as much as in the classroom - for the most part. And working can help set up connections for later job searches and also be good on a resume.

And, another important fact about working while in Trade School or College, is that you can learn skills that might help out later. If your first choice of a job does not work out later, you have other options to look to.

Good luck!

Do you want a job= trade school.
Do you want a career= college.

Neither means you want to work....but....you may be forced too, if you don't.

Never went to college, no money and I was farming, got sick, went to work in town, Took classes to learn Water Treatment from a correspondance school and Short School. Ended up with 45 CEU's after 10 years....James

jwal10 - I think you have a good point but I have to say that I think Jobs/Trade School jobs that are traditionally thought of as only a "job" can also become a Career if one can learn to run a small business and do good work. Many Community Colleges have Small Business Centers that offer free classes on how to set up a small business and how to run it.

My two older sons are taking classes now at a Community College near here. They are doing yard work, property care taker work, checking on empty houses for people, pet care, errands, hauling trash - basically anything at all. Although these are thought of as "job" and really not even thought of as "good jobs" but it is and they are learning to turn it into a Career by turning it into a Business.

They are getting paid $30.00 to haul four bags of trash away from one house. Now - grated $30.00 is not going to make them rich - but $30.00 for one hour of work is pretty good and the woman calls them to do other work too. One day she paid them $45.00 just to go flip a re-set button on the well pump!

Anyway - my point is that a "job" can be turned into a Career too.

Good luck!

Student Loan Debt Reaches $1 Trillion

Constitutionalists and free-market economists claim that the idea that every high school graduate is entitled to a government-subsidized loan to attend a $30,000-a-year university is fiscally maniacal. But unfortunately, it’s also a fiscal reality that has propelled college graduates into financial Armageddon.

Indeed, U.S. student-debt outstanding exceeded $1 trillion last year — according to new estimates released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — potentially leading to further delays in home-buying and, in turn, an extended impasse on the housing recovery. CFPB student loan ombudsman Rohit Chopra, for instance, asserts that "first-time home-buyers are a substantial part of the housing market," and "instead of saving for a down payment, these borrowers are sending big payments every month."






Yeah, well worth it... To make a buck more and pay two more in taxes!